


The School for Mentats

by KwisatzHaderach



Category: Dune (1984), Dune Series - Frank Herbert, Frank Herbert's Dune (2000), Prelude to Dune - Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson & Stephen Youll
Genre: Bene Gesserit, F/M, Gen, School, mentats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:07:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25033696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KwisatzHaderach/pseuds/KwisatzHaderach
Summary: Before Thufir Hawat, Mentat Master of Assassins became the most gifted Master in the Imperium, he had to learn how to navigate his own feelings.As one who praised logic and mental fortitude above all else, this proved hard, if not impossible. Until he went to the Ixian School for Mentats.He found friendship, intellectual stimulation...and love. His first love. And his last.This is the story of the young man who would grow to be one of the universe's finest minds.This is the story of a single character in Frank Herbert's Dune universe, and his journey through intellect and love alike.
Relationships: Kolinar/Anyya, Thufir Hawat/Anyya





	1. Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet our three main characters.

Anyya Fenring was gifted. And she knew it.

The only child of a Bene Gesserit Sister and prominent official of the Imperial Court, she was wealthy and beautiful, tall and thin, with reddish-blond hair, a generous mouth, and emerald eyes. Her family was highly wealthy, important in the spice business. Her mother was intelligent and highly trained, and her father's CHOAM holdings and political proximity to the Padishah Emperor guaranteed her almost everything she could ever ask for, and more. But there was one thing that Anyya had that nobody could give her.

She was shockingly intelligent, her skills sharpened with Mentat training. She had the training of the Bene Gesserit as well, and her control over mind and body was stunning, shocking even the most experienced teachers of the Imperium. Ever since she was little, her mother had overseen her education. Her Bene Gesserit connections enabled her to find the best teachers for her little girl, who at the time showed intelligence beyond that of most experts. Anyya's father, too, had abandoned the bulk of his work for the Emperor and devoted himself to caring for his girl.

Word caught on about Anyya, and before she had achieved five Standard Years of age, all of Kaitain knew about her. Her father swiftly climbed the ranks and became closer and closer to the Padishah Emperor. Her mother continued to push her harder and harder. It seemed that she had limitless potential, as well as a clear dream. Anyya dreamed of becoming a Mentat Assassin for a Great House. She wanted to be the logician and strategist for House Corrino, for the Padishah Emperor. Her dream was to lead the Great House in battle and help it keep its place as the wealthiest and the best in all the Known Universe. And with her parents' connections, she certainly could.

Anyya was seven when she told her mother of her plan.

"My daughter, an Assassin?" The Sister, usually cool and composed, was on the brink of tears. She wanted her only daughter to be a Sister. Perhaps a Reverend Mother. Her genes were good, and she'd be helpful in the breeding program. The Kwisatz Haderach was a few generations away, according to calculations, and all was going smoothly. But she realized that Anyya had been passionate in her Mentat studies. Perhaps, she thought, this would be the best path for her. The Kwisatz Haderach would come in time, and there are plenty of other girls who would make excellent Sisters.

Her father was overjoyed. He, although high-ranking and very experienced, was far less intelligent than his wife and daughter. He wasn't dumb, though, and he was extremely loyal and possessed a charisma that Anyya had inherited. He also had an innate understanding of her, and they could almost communicate without words, even though he had no Bene Gesserit training. "Of course, my girl," he said, proud that his daughter would become influential, "I will find you the right school. With your intelligence and beauty, and my  _ connections _ , we'll make something special out of you." He patted her on the head.

The day before Anyya's fifteenth birthday, after years of highly advanced physical and mental training, she was sent to the prestigious School for Mentats on the planet of Ix.

*****

Kolinar Harkonnen was a tall, handsome boy from Giedi Prime. 

His family wasn't poor, but they weren't wealthy, and Kolinar often watched over his younger twin sisters while his Suk doctor father and machine worker mother toiled long hours to be able to send their three children to school. They were distantly related to the Baron Rakan Harkonnen, although it wasn't obvious to the casual onlooker. Kolinar had black hair, like his father (who was of Atreides descent), but his mother's lanky, thin frame. His nose was a mix of the two: straight and upturned at the end. His complexion was olive, with a reddish color in the cheeks, and most of the girls in his school had had a crush on him at some point.

He was very bright. Precocious, his teachers always said. He excelled in math and history and possessed great awareness of his mind and body from a young age when most of the children could barely run without bumping into each other. His parents had found a couple of masters to teach him the fundamentals of being a Mentat. They had high hopes for their son and made sure all their family knew of the unusually bright boy. He seemed perfect for a Mentat: certainly intelligent enough and sensitively aware. This had lent him a certain charisma that made him popular in school and now, his family hoped, a great Mentat for a Great House. 

His parents couldn't afford to hire very many private instructors, so he studied alone. He borrowed filmbooks from his friends and from public libraries, studying all hours of the night. His parents would sometimes come home, weary from a full day's work, only to see their son hunched over a desk, replaying filmbooks over and over again, and taking notes. He learned about biological sciences, history, and even a bit of military strategy. 

When he turned fourteen, his parents applied him to the Ixian School for Mentats. The tuition was expensive, and they could just barely afford it. But their small, red-haired daughters (who resembled their very Harkonnen-looking, machine worker mother) could go without new school uniforms for a few months. Their only son, their beauty, pride, and joy, was going to become a Mentat!

When Kolinar was fifteen, he boarded an interplanetary shuttle to the planet of Ix, where his Mentat education would begin.

*****

Thufir Hawat, according to his mother, was destined for greatness.

And Golani, his mother who had undergone Mentat training, would know. She knew a lot.

Thufir was the oldest of nine siblings, who lived with their parents Golani and Alwidi on the third planet of Alpha Centauri B, Logi. It was a small planet and the Hawat family wasn't well known in their city, let alone anywhere else. They were comfortable enough, but with nine children to feed and clothe, they didn't have much to spend on luxuries. Thufir often ended up looking after his younger siblings while their parents worked.

But it was clear that the tall young boy with curly dark hair, thick eyebrows, and a constant all-knowing grin was born to do something great. When he was an infant, barely babbling out his first words (which he did at a remarkably young age), Golani recognized the intelligence and capacity of a Mentat. Maybe it was the way he analyzed everything with his large brown eyes. Maybe it was the way he seemed aware of his surroundings almost immediately after birth. But Golani, who had trained as a potential Mentat as a younger girl, knew what to do. 

Leaving her husband Aldiwi to care for the other children, Golani scoured the Imperium, looking for the best teachers for her son. By the time he was six, he possessed muscle and mind control that rivaled that of some experts that had been studying for years. He was extremely sensitive and aware of changes in his surroundings and was fluent in enough languages to travel to many different planets and discuss philosophy and human nature. In addition to these skills, which were fairly common among Mentats, young Thufir was well-grounded in economics, communications, and military strategy. Golani said, and all of Thufir's teachers agreed, that the precocious young boy would make an excellent Master of Assassins.

But Thufir didn't know his true potential until he was about eleven when his mother explained why he couldn't go out and play with his siblings and their friends, why he had to stay inside and read and write and do his physical and mental exercises. Golani told him everything. "And you see, son, you are special."

Thufir at eleven was only a small bit shorter than his mother (who was on the small side). He angled his head with its unkempt mop of curly hair so he could look Golani in the eyes. His dark, liquidy eyes under thick eyebrows seemed to penetrate Golani's lighter ones. "I know, Mother."

"Would you like to train here? Under me and your teachers? Or go off to a school elsewhere, when you turn fifteen? Your masters all recommend a highly eminent Mentat school on Ix. You'd become a great Master of Assassins there, and you'd get to befriend others with similar intellectual capacities."

Thufir knew, as soon as he heard "Ix," that he wanted to leave. He'd read about those exotic planets, Ix and Tleilax and Caladan and Arrakis, and he greatly desired to go to one. He also knew his mother would like to have a slightly emptier house and less burden. Eight "normal" children were a lot easier to care for than one potential Mentat child.

"I'll go then."

The Hawat family used their last savings on the Mentat school, and Thufir Hawat boarded a shuttle to Ix one week after his fifteenth birthday.

  
  
  



	2. Arrival at Ix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Thufir, Kolinar, and Anyya arrive at the Mentat School on Ix and learn about life there.

The School for Mentats on Ix was bigger than anything most of the young pupils had ever seen before. Most of them had never been outside their home planets and few lived in large cities, so this came as a shock to even the most jaded among them.  
It was an immensely tall building, done in the old style, with domed roofs and large windows. In the middle was a vast courtyard of polished marble-like material, gleaming with wetness and reflecting the purplish-red sky. In the distance, puffs of smoke were seen on the horizon. It was very damp, but at the same time very, very cold.  
Kolinar pulled his simple black cloak tighter around his broad shoulders. Giedi Prime, with its humidity and smog, hadn't prepared him for this. The air was clear and sweet to breathe compared to the foul air of his home planet, and he inhaled greedily, wincing a bit from the cold. He caught a faintly metallic smell on the air and remembered the filmbooks he'd read about Ix. Many machines are produced here, many factories, which lends to the air the smell of metal and smoke. He trembled slightly and was thankful for the crowds of potential Mentat pupils surrounding him, waiting. For what, Kolinar wasn't entirely sure.   
Somewhere else in the throng, Anyya was used to the cold. She had traveled off-planet several times before, for her parents' work, and it wasn't her first time on Ix. She also had a thick, warm cloak to protect her: rich brown, with fur trim and the Fenring coat of arms (two red lions facing a white chain-like wall and snarling at each other), embroidered over her heart. The cloak was a bit big on her slim frame, but it was warm, thankfully. Her hair was slicked into an intricately woven style, and she radiated calm and beauty. As she patted at her hair and clothing, other students seemed to shrink away. Only one boy seemed to move closer, his cheeks flushed. Was it cold? Or was it a developing crush? He was cute, but Anyya affected a Bene Gesserit-taught sense of calm. A Mentat, even one in training, would have to overcome their emotions.  
Thufir looked at the girl to his right. She was just about his height, with gleaming reddish hair in a complex knot that reflected the glowglobes hanging from the sides of the building. Her garments were thick, to keep out the cold, but he knew she must have a beautiful body underneath. Her skin was creamy and smooth, and he busied himself with the folds of his too-big robe. A Mentat must act like a computer: logical, unbothered by the frivolous needs of humans.  
He saw the girl catch a glimpse of him. Her eyes reflected the Ixian sky and he couldn't tell their color. He shifted closer to her, and his finger almost...almost brushed the fur lining of her cloak...  
The crowd of shivering young Mentat students slowly moved forward, separating him from the girl. He was surrounded by pupils his age from different planets, and he tried to identify their homeworlds based on their looks. That crowd of blond students with round faces and flowy clothes...Tleilaxu. That small, wiry boy with completely blue eyes and dark skin and hair...certainly some Fremen blood in him. Must be from Arrakis.  
A flash of lightning lit the sky and Thufir's heart pounded. He held in a small scream. Some students audibly yelped, and others giggled nervously. But Thufir's training in Mentat fundamentals enabled him to stand still and stay composed. Although how composed could an awkward boy of fifteen Standard Years look, anyway?  
An old, dark-skinned man in a long brown coat walked up a staircase to a balcony in the front of the courtyard. "Young pupils, listen to me," he boomed in a basso voice.   
Kolinar had heard the Baron speak before. His voice was terrifying but compared to this old man, he seemed harmless as a kitten. This old man may not be able to win a knife fight but in a battle of wits? The opponent would be annihilated.  
The young pupils stood straighter, and Kolinar did too. His head poked above the crowd, and he felt like the old man was looking him straight in the eyes. The fear in the throng was palpable.  
"You, children, are among the brightest minds in the Imperium. You are gathered here today for your training at the Ixian School for Mentats."  
Anyya felt her heart beat faster. At last. At last. She was finally going to achieve her dream.  
"Welcome to the school. I am the Master. That is not my name, but that is the name by which you'll address me, and you will not know my real name. Before you get assigned to your rooms, I have a few things to say."  
Thufir wobbled on the tips of his toes as he tried to see over the crowd. He was on the tall side himself, but the crowd was so dense that it was like looking over a solid wall of people.  
"You are incredibly talented young pupils. Destined for greatness. Many of you will become Mentat Assassins for the Great Houses of the Imperium. Many of you will support the finest leaders. The Emperors, Lords, Dukes, Counts, Barons - there are never too many Mentats.  
"You will take the Juice of Sapho daily, with your food. Additionally, you will receive a vial, once a week, with extra Sapho when needed. This is to be used conservatively, and it is highly addictive.   
"Girls-" he gestured to the back of the crowd, to a large glass building behind the courtyard. "- your quarters are in that building. And boys-" he gestured to the building behind him. "- you will live here. Disperse in an orderly fashion."  
*****  
Kolinar followed the signs on the long, sterile corridors to the H hallway. At least the quarters were in alphabetical order. The hallways smelled of Sapho, and boys filed in and out of rooms. Some looked a lot older, bigger than him, and he realized just how young he was.  
He stopped in front of a door with a plaque on it:  
Room 167  
Harkonnen, Kolinar  
Hawat, Thufir  
He didn't recognize the other name. Thufir Hawat, a curious name. He rolled it around on his tongue, working out the pronunciation. He must be from an Alpha Centauri planet. Very interesting.  
The room was small, with two cots and a single glowglobe shedding light on each bed. The room was cold and the walls were white and bare. Kolinar selected the bed closest to the small window that overlooked a scrap of the forest. If he squinted, he could make out the tiny figures of girls doing some sort of physical conditioning exercise.   
The door burst open, and an awkward-looking boy rushed in. His dark curls were falling into his brown eyes. When he brushed them aside, his thick eyebrows were animated and made him look passionate and slightly angry. "Are you by any chance Kolinar Harkonnen?" He stumbled a bit on the pronunciation.  
"Yes, that's me. It's pronounced Ko-li-nar. And you are-?"  
"Thufir Hawat. From the planet of Logi, Alpha Centauri B." He offered a hand, and Kolinar shook it. Thufir's hand was very cold and his face was pale and slightly flushed. "I see you took the good bed. Oh, well. I have eight siblings. This is an upgrade."  
*****  
There were far fewer girl Mentats, and Anyya had a room to herself. There was a single cot in the room, and it felt big and empty. The plaque had only Fenring, Anyya on the door, as well as a number: 81. Her window was large, and she could see the boys' dormitory across the courtyard, which was empty but for the cleaners. No people were to be seen, but she could see shadows through the windows of the dorm. She wondered where the boy, the one who had scooted closer during the orientation, was. He seemed nice. Oh, well. Maybe they'd meet again.  
A quiet female voice came over an intercom. "The curfew is in ten minutes. I repeat, the curfew is in ten minutes."   
Anyya then realized just how tired she was. She flung off her cloak and fell asleep almost immediately, still in her flowy traveling gown.  
*****  
Meanwhile, the two boys stayed up long past the curfew. They talked until they were about to fall asleep, about life and their family. They shared anecdotes about their younger siblings, about their training, about their intelligence. They knew they were going to become best friends.  
But Thufir couldn't stop thinking about that beautiful red-haired girl he saw in the courtyard earlier.


	3. First Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kolinar and Thufir really get to know Anyya. Budding romance, perhaps?

A voice, broadcasted into all the dorm rooms, woke Anyya up. She rolled over and rubbed her eyes, blinking at the unfamiliar room before remembering where she was. Once she remembered, her heart beat quickly, happily.

Finally. Finally, my dreams will be achieved!

She realized she was still in her clothes from the day before, and quickly pulled on a simple black dress. It came to her ankles, sweeping over the floor. She flung a dark purple shawl, emblazoned with the School symbol, over her shoulders. As she left her room, she ran her fingers delicately over the intricate symbol: the interwoven strands of red and blue made a vague shape of a human brain. She had received the shawl, along with a filmbook on the School, in the mail the week before she left, but this was the first time she actually put it on. It was thick and soft and slightly big, hanging to her knees, but at least it was warm.

The Ixian air bit her skin as she walked briskly across the courtyard to the dining hall. A few other students were there too, most mingling in small bunches of roommates. A small pang of jealousy hit Anyya, walking alone without a roommate. She pulled her shawl tighter, and its warmth offered some comfort. She noticed a few older Mentat students, taller and clad in dark brown and gray shawls. Some of them had silver pins, but she couldn't quite make out the designs. The pins flashed in the purplish early-morning light, and she didn't know what they were for, but she-

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" whispered a nervous voice. Anyya found herself sprawled on her back on the damp marble ground. Her boots skidded on the slick surface as she fought her way into a sitting position. Everything spun around her, and she felt slightly disoriented. She knew her dress would have a few wet spots, and her shawl was crooked. Her hair, which she had smoothed into a slick braid, was probably a bit messy now. But as far as she could tell, nothing was broken and she was in a perfectly normal mental state. Her Bene Gesserit training helped her stay calm as she stood up. 

"Are you - okay?" the voice spoke again. Anyya whipped around and caught sight of a boy. Not just any boy. The boy. From the courtyard. He reached out like he was about to grab her arm and steady her, his fingers shaking slightly. But Anyya briskly swung it to her side, out of reach. 

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied quickly. He looked at her, cocking his head as if to ask again. It was endearing, and she resisted the urge to smile and blush and maybe giggle and flirt. "I'm going to eat." She speed-walked towards the dining hall, her dress covering her feet. She seemed to float-

Thufir's shoulder throbbed. He jerked his arm away quickly, glaring at Kolinar, who was snickering. "Why did you do that?"

"You're in love..." Kolinar's voice was singsong and cheerful. He laughed. "You've never been in love, have you."

So that's what love feels like! Thufir blushed. "No, I guess not. But she's really pretty. And really smart."

"How can you tell?"

"My teachers taught me how to analyze a person in a really short amount of time. It's actually a really good skill to have. I can teach you if you want."

Kolinar tried to avoid being jealous. Even though his family wasn't wealthy, they were still probably wealthier than Thufir's. After all, Thufir had eight siblings, and he was from a small planet. He had no blood from any Great Houses (or so he thought), and his parents didn't hold prestigious jobs. But his mother devoted all her time to his education, teaching him all she knew and providing him with tutors and intellectual stimulation. Kolinar taught himself from filmbooks with little parental interference. He couldn't learn many Mentat fundamentals. "That would be great. I'm starved. Let's get some food."

The dining hall was large, with high ceilings and long tables. Glowglobes hanging from the ceiling cast an eerie light on everyone's face, even though it was morning. The walls were old and worn, repaired in parts with an imitation stone.

Kolinar and Thufir waited in line. When they finally arrived at the front, there was a scanning box with a small step.

Kolinar, who had been to school, knew how they worked. "Stand on the step and the box will scan you and distribute food based on your caloric needs." He stepped on the step, which was scuffed from thousands of students' feet, and waited as the box shone a small light over his body. Thufir followed suit. The scanner tingled a bit.

"Now we have to go forward in line." They shuffled forward, past other students figuring out the machines, and received a tray on a table. They picked it up and moved into the flow of students.

"It's crowded," Thufir complained, his voice muffled by the suffocating wall of students. Kolinar, who had been to a school before, knew what to do. He grabbed Thufir by the arm and led him over to a fairly empty table.

They found seats at the end and started eating. The food was unfamiliar to both of them, and it was strangely delicious, despite being manufactured by Ixian machines. Kolinar chewed hastily, while Thufir examined every piece carefully before taking a bite. 

"This food has something odd in it," he muttered, squinting at an odd vegetable as if to try and spot each individual ingredient. His plate, although holding less food than Kolinar's (as he was smaller and didn't need as many calories), was still pretty full, and it all tasted slightly sweet.

"It's Sapho juice," interjected a smooth, high-pitched voice. Thufir and Kolinar whipped around and saw the girl from that morning. Her hair wasn't as smooth as it once was, but it was nearly impossible to tell that she fell. Her tray had less food than either of the boys, and she slid into the empty seat next to Thufir. 

"What's that?" Kolinar had heard of it, of course, but it had slipped his mind in the excitement of the morning. His memory retention, for a Mentat student, was a bit poor, but his wit and charisma overrode the small fault.

"Juice from the barrier roots of the Ecaz plant," she replied, her eyes slightly glassy. She appeared to look inward, into her brain, as if she was a trained Mentat computer. It was clear that she had memorized all there was to know about the School. Thufir nodded, his eyes lighting up with knowledge. Kolinar felt a pang of being left out. 

"I've done extensive research on the planet of Ecaz. It's right next to my home planet." Thufir was proud to be able to share his knowledge with this beautiful girl. She was smart too? He wondered what her name was and from where she came.

"Oh! Do you live on Logi? I haven't done much research about it, but I do know you have large imports of Sapho. Is that why so many Mentats here are from there? I checked out the demographics before making my decision."

"Yes, I do. My mother, my primary teacher - she was a Mentat student. Not high-caliber, but promising. She left when she fell in love with my father. And they had me, and my eight younger siblings."

"Eight?" Anyya was impressed. She had been an only child raised among the aristocracy, and could barely comprehend having one sibling, let alone eight.

"What's your name?" Kolinar was sick of the smart-people talk. He wanted to get to his first class and make some friends. Listening to Thufir chat idly with this pretty girl made him anxious. He knew Thufir had a massive crush on her. "I'm Kolinar Harkonnen, from Giedi Prime, and this right here is Thufir-"

"Hawat..." Thufir turned to Kolinar and his face was a deep red, almost purple, matching his purple cloak.

"Thufir Hawat. Who are you?"

"I'm Anyya Fenring. From Kaitain."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I submitted a whole heck of a lot in one day. Hope you enjoyed it!   
> (I write fic on other websites too, and this was already published there before I got an account here.)  
> Anyway, I won't be able to really publish anything good for the next week and a half or so? A week if I have time to write. I have to complete some other assignments for a course.  
> Thank you for your consideration, and have a nice day!


End file.
